Pastel Gardens
by Schwarzze
Summary: Venus is a Zoroark who has lived in a sanctuary her entire life, raised by a Mienshao named Key and a Vaporeon named Clock. When she's finally able to discover the world on her own, she ends up meeting a very interesting Pokémon in a pastel rose garden- and this Pokémon desperately needs her help.
1. chapter 1

My eyes had watched the rain blow vigorously outside the window. Clock was supposed to be back by now with Mago Berries for my birthday.

I was starting to get worried. Clock was a Vaporeon, so the water shouldn't have phased him. Maybe, there was something- _or someone else_ he had ran into. Maybe, he wasn't coming back.

"Are you alright, Venus?" My head turned from the window to see a Meinshao with a neatly tied bow on it's tail. It was Key. "I'm alright," I started. "Do you know when Clock is supposed to be back?" Key looked at me inquisitivley. "Are you _that_ worried about him, dear?"

I looked away, embarassed. "I just want to know when I'll get my birthday gifts." Key smiled warmly "Oh, I should have known. You are a Zorua, after all."

I hated it when people said that. That I act the way I do because I'm a Zorua. I tried to talk to Key about it, to get the others in the sanctuary to stop as well, but she always said I was lucky that she didn't leave me where she found me because I was a Zorua.

It wasn't fair. I never asked to be a Zorua. I never asked to be stereotyped. One day, I'm going to change that. I'm going to make everyone see that I was more than just a mischievous and haughty stereotype.

There was a sudden knock at the door. A spark of hope ignited in me, and I raced up the short step to get to the door. Clock had walked in quickly, slipperey and wet from the rain and with a basket around his neck.

"Clock!" I exclaimed. I put my head on his cheeck to welcome him back. "Hey Venus! Happy birthday!" Clock set down the basket and shook of the water on him. "I got you the berries you asked for, and a little something extra."

I moved around the surplus of Mago berries, trying to find the suprise that Clock had put in the basket. I gasped. At the bottom was a red bandana with what looked like a "" on it.

"Thanks a million!" I quickly grabbed the scarf and asked Key to help me put it on. "It's no problem," Clock chuckled. "I just wanted to get you something nice."

"I'll go ask the Pansear if they'll help us cook the berries." Key waddled off with the basket, leaving Clock and me behind. I turned to the charming Vaporeon who I had known my entire life.

"I can't believe you're growing up on me." Clock said jokingly. "Well, I couldn't stay an egg forever!" We both chuckled.

Clock was like my dad. When Key had to help other Pokémon far away, Clock was the one who took care of me.

Key was like my mother, but I was much closer with Clock than I was Key. Though, I will always love them the same way.

A bell rung. Clock sighed. "Sorry, kid. I need to go back out again, and I might not be back to eat with you all. And by the sound of that bell, I might not be back for a long time." My heart sank. I wanted Clock to be with me for this birthday. Me and Key didn't tell him, but this birthday was going to be my evolution ceremony.

"Do you really have to go now?" I was holding my breath for him to answer. He sighed again. "I'm sorry, Venus, but I have to go on this one."

"I promise I'll come see you first when I get back." I looked to him, holding back my sadness from overflowing. "Do you swear? Even if Arceus tries to stop you?" Clock chuckled. "If I had to battle Arceus to see you again, I'd definitely make sure it wouldn't win."

I smiled genuinly, but I was still worried. One time when Clock had went out for a misson, he came back seriously injured and it took him months to recover. Sometimes, I have nightmares of what he could have gone through.

"I got to go now, Venus." Clock smiled at me. "I'll be back. I promise." Clock had walked out the door before I could say goodbye. I quickly dashed outside in the rain.

"Clock!!" I yelled across the front yard. He turned around. "I promise we will see eachother again some time!!" Clock had smiled from his heart. He than resumed walking away from the house. I watched his scarf flap in the wind until I couldn't see him through the mist. I couldn't even tell if I was crying, or rain was just dripping off my face.

I walked into the dining room to see dozens of pokemon sitting around the long table. A seat made from elegant stones sat open infront of Mago berries and a single rare candy. Key gestured me over to the seat.

I took a deep breath as I sat down in the seat. Assortments of very different Pokémon were all staring at me, waiting for what I was going to do once I evolved. Luckily, Key had started a speech.

"A long time ago on this very day, I had gone walking with Clock on a very important misson." Everyone's eyes were stuck on Key. "We had found an egg inside of Mt. Nyght's volcano, and we were lucky enough to save it in time."

Key held up a broken egg shell peice with a star on the side. "This star is what caught our eyes in the first place. Withought it being there, we would have never saw the egg." Key pointed to my left flank, where I had a birth mark. "And she still keeps the symbol today."

"We don't know why the egg was there, but we believe it was because her mother had nothing to do with her own egg." The room had let out noises of pity. I had already gotten used to it before.

"The day that Venus was hatched, the morning star had shone brightly for all of us to see." Key smiled, most likely reminiscing of what happened. "Therfore, naming her Venus."

The Pokémon cheered. The speech was over. "Now, we are ready to see our morning star evolve into her final form!" Key looked at me, nodding to tell me I was ready to eat the candy.

I felt really nervous, and I held my breath. Slowly, I had reached down and began to pick up the candy in my mouth. The other Pokémon began to chant something incoherent. I swallowed the candy.

I saw the light enveloping around me shine off the walls. My muscles began to stretch and I felt my bones reshape. It wasn't painful, but it wasn't painless either.

The process was shorter than I thought it would be. I opened my eyes that I had closed out of habit to see the other Pokémon staring at my new form. Most of them seemed intimidated, and I felt like it was from my new towering height and stronger appearance.

"Venus has now became a Zoroark!!" Everyone began cheering after Key stated what had happened. "Now, we can all eat!" Everyone began chowing down on the Mago berries.

I felt happy that everyone was celebrating my new form, but it didn't feel like anyone welcomed it. All of them still seem scared of the fact I was a Zoroark, and I disliked it. I wish they'd understand that I was just like them.

I was laying down on my bed, trying to sleep, but I was restless. Clock was on my mind. I really wish he could have seen me become a Zoroark. He was the only one who wouldn't be afraid of it.

I hated the stereotypes with a passion. They made no sense. Why did they even exist in the first place? When did a Zorua or Zoroark ever hurt anyone because they were solely fueled by evil intentions?

I stared straight through the window. The moon was full. I hoped that Clock had found a nice place to sleep, maybe even better than the modest hay beds that we had here.

Tommorow I was going to go out and explore this place. All I had ever known was the sanctuary and the yard around itm Nothing ever interesting happened here. And know that I've evolved, Key wouldn't stop me from leaving.

Yes, tomorrow. But I had to figure out how to fall asleep first. I sat and waited for what seem liked hours before I even started to feel drowsy. Thinking about falling asleep, it eventually came to me, and I was able to rest peacefully for the rest of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Sunlight began pouring into my room, welcoming the next day. I opened my eyes steadily, still somewhat tired. I heard many Pokémon chatting in the distance, both outside and in the halls.

Remembering my plans I had for today, I got up quickly and dusted myself off. Today I was going to go explore. I was going to see the forest, the oceans, some caves. I could feel my heart long to see them.

Dashing out of my room, I went straight through the common room and into the kitchen, to where I was greeted by Key. I greeted her back, and went straight to my idea.

"Can I please be an explorer?" Key looked at me, almost astonished by my words. "Don't you want to take part in missons here?" I shook my head. "Not exactly, though I do want to help other Pokémon!" Key was baffled by my statement. "I just want to help other Pokémon while I'm on my own journey!"

Key scrunched up her face. She looked as of she was thinking hard about something. After a few moments, she sighed, and began putting berries in a bag. "I guess. I mean, who am I to choose what you do with your life."

I bounced with happiness. "Oh, thank you so much!" I took the bag that she handed out to me. " _But,_ " She began. "You start a new life now. You won't be able to come back and stay here again, but please do visit as much as you possibly can."

I nodded. "I promise I will!" I began to race off. "Thank you so much, Key! I promise I will come back!" I heard Key chuckle as I left. From now on, I was an explorer. I make my own life. _I don't live by stereotypes._

My heart pounded from me taking my first steps into the forest. A sign hanging from a branch told me that this was _Norstorn Forest_. "Hello, Norstorn Forest. I am Venus." I said into the wind blowing the leaves. "I'm ready to make my own story, and live my own life. And you are the first milestone I have for my goal!"

"Wow, that was a nice speech, kid." I jumped from the sudden voice. "Who's there?!" I shouted. "Show yourself!" A hunched bipedal Pokémon walked out from the bushes and onto the dirt path. It was a Lycanroc, a midnight form one. "You got some big ambitions there." The Lycanroc smirked at me. It made my blood boil.

"Who _are_ you?" I asked. The Lycanroc shook his head. "Ah, that's right. My name is Dizzy, but folks just like to call me Diz." He pointed to a bracelet on his wrist which dawned a strange symbol. "I work for a small organizaton called Team Twilight. Our goal is to create a world in which we can all live peacefully by keeping our planet pure."

"What do you mean by 'pure'?" I asked. Diz sighed. "Man, you sure do ask a lot of questions. I'll answer for you anyway." He began pacing back and forth on the dirt path. "My boss believes that Pokèmon like you and me are pure Pokémon. We don't look odd or hold special powers. We're pure."

As he was talking, I kept thinking about the star on my left flank. He couldn't see it from where he was standing, but he definitely would have thought it would be odd. It made me impure by his standards.

"But there are some Pokémon out there who are different from us. They have weird colors and patterns and they can do bizzare things impossible to any normal Pokémon. Those are the impure."

"Last question," Diz looked like he was getting mad, ready to bite my head off at any second. "What happens to those who are impure?" Diz began to grow a smile on his face that seemed dark in some way. "Let's just say, we find em' and turn em' in to the boss. He takes care of them."

I didn't like the vibe this guy was giving off. His ideas seemed wrong. Just because people are diffrent doesn't mean they're completley unable to do the things we do. "Well, I'm off, kid. The boss is expecting us back with impurities to give to him. Ciao!" Diz walked off before I could stop him. That Lycanroc made me so mad.

~

I continued walking through the forest, discovering so many new things. Colorful flowers and beautiful trees dawned this forest almost everywhere, making ot look like you were walking in a dream. It didn't take long until I had reached a small village. A short sign next to the road said _Padstow Village_.

There were small shops on one side and the other was plastered with small, elegant houses and a medical center. I began looking around at all of the small shops. I ended up getting a charming necklace with an elegant stone charm from a shopping cart owned by a friendly Aggron.

I also traded most of my berries in return for a large apple and a donut. I was enjoying this village and it's Pokémon, but I knew I had to leave soon. There was just one more thing that I needed to do before I had left.

"The Pastel Rose garden is just on the outside of the city. Just keep going foreward, and you won't miss it!" I thanked the friendly Buizel for giving me helpful directions. I quickly began searching for the enterance to the garden, and found it as soon as I had exited the village.

"If you want inside, it's going to cost you 5,000 coins." I was bewildered. "It really costs that much?" The Sawsbuck guarding the garden gate wouldn't budge until I have him the money. I sighed, taking the most of the coins I had left and placing them in a box next to the gate. The Sawsbuck had moved. "You may now enter."

Inside the garden was a maze. I wasn't tall enough to see over the hedges, so I walked blindly through the entire garden. Eventually, I discovered the center of the garden, which dawned a large stone statue of a Silvally. Once I sat down beside it, I saw the beautiful roses that dawned on this side of the hedges.

It was magnificent. Now that I was able to see the roses, it was definetly worth the money.

Water had flown in between the stones of the path. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to touch it with her feet unless I did so deliberatley. Even though, I still kept it up.

My bag moved. I snapped my head to the sound. It had been opened. My last Mago berry was missing. As I moved my head around, my eyes caught a blur of a yellow-like color. Whatever it was, it had to have stole my berry.

"Hey!" I shouted. I began to walk towards the corner of the hedge. "Give me back my berry, theif." The pokémon behind the bush didn't move, but I could tell it was still there. "Now, theif!" I jumped towards the enterance of the hedge, holding my breath.

I was bewildered by what I saw. It was a Typhlosion, but at the same time, it didn't look like one. I saw no blue markings on it. Instead, there was a dusty red color. It dawned a black collar with a red feather. In it's hands was my Mago berry.

I growled. " _Who are you??_ " The Typhlosion looked uncomfortable, and he didn't speak. He just stared at thr berry. "I'm not going to ask you again," I snarled.

He swallowed, took a deep breath, and spoke. "My name is Keua. I'm sorry I took your berry, but I really need it." I huffed. "Why can't you find your own? There's tons in the forest." He looked around cautiously, as if someone was following.

"There's a group of Pokémon taking over this town and many others, and they _really_ don't like Pokémon that look like me." I remembered my encounter with Diz, and the conversation we had in the forest. "I can't go out in the open, and I need this berry for food."

I wasn't completey sold. "Why should I trust you if you tried to steal the berry in the first place?" "Oh come on," he sighed. "You out of any Pokémon should understand that looking that way that I do would be to overwhelming. You're a Zoroark afterall; It's not like many people would think you'd tell the truth." My blood began to boil.

"Being the way you are born doesn't give you an excuse to be a jerk!" I impulsevly let out a dark aura that aimed straight at Keua. It hit him hard enough to knock him over.

"Hey!! There's no use to use _dark pulse_ on me! I don't want to fight!" Keua slowly got up, dusting himself off. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I just don't want to starve or get caught. Please."

I relaxed myself and sighed. "I'm sorry too. There's no excuse for me injuring you like that." I sighed. "You can keep the berry." Suddenly, large footsteps came stomping nearby.

Keua tensed up. "I've got to get out of here." He dashed off swiftly, and I grabbed my things and followed. I had no idea how to get out of the garden anyway, so I presumed I could follow him out.

Keua suddenly stopped. There were more footsteps coming from the direction we were running. They were on both sides. I heard Keua gulp. "This is it," he said, breath hitched. We're gonna get caught."

I had to think quickly. The footsteps sounded like Midnight Lycanroc footsteps. I had to do what I hated to do most.

"Not so fast! Stop in the name of Team Twi-" The Lycanroc that had just turned around the corner paused as he saw another Lycanroc latched on to the arm of Keua. "No need to make a fuss," I said. " I can take it from here.

"Sorry there, friend." The first Lycanroc said, as the other one walked up behind us. "We thought there were two impurities, but we've been mistaken."

"Where is your bracelet?" The second Lycanroc spoke with hostility in his voice. Anxiety suddenly made it's way to me. I had to think of something, and fast too. "Well, uh," I looked at Keua. He was a fire-type. "When I caught this Typhlosion, he tried putting up a fight and burned my braclet to ashes." The two Lycanroc nodded in agreement, as if to say that my story seemed reasonable.

"Alright then," The first Lycanroc said. "We'll leave it to you then. We will go look for more impurities to capture and give to the boss." Both of the Lycanrocs scurried off, and I waited until their footsteps vanished. I sighed from fatuige, and turned back into a Zoroark.

" _Thank you._ " I heard Keua say warmly. "It's no problem," I said. "I'm an explorer. I'd help any Pokémon in need." There was a pause of silence between us. "I really need your help." He wispered. "All of us who are considered impurities do."

"It's not like im that much different," I said. I pointed to the star mark on my flank. "They'd be after me too." Keua sighed. "I hope you do consider it." He began walking off. "But I'd like you to meet the others. Follow me."

~

Hi. I am deeply sorry that this chapter is 2 days late. I got caught up with Thanksgiving and homework, plus my Mother would not let me finish this chapter at all. When I get the chance, I will write 2 chapters in one day, but for now I won't be able to write as often.


	3. Note

Hello.

To those who were following this story, Im here to tell you that I'm discontinuing it.

I started writing this when I didn't know much about writing, and there's a lot I would like to go back and fix, but I do not have the time for that.

Never fear, I am going to start writing a new story involving Venus. It may be similar to this one, but I've also been thinking about writing a newer story.

Thank you for reading.


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